"I didn't speak much to him about this jump, I want to focus on myself," said Giovinazzi. "I don't want to repeat Charles' results this year or improve his results – my target is just to do the best I can on my side.

"I will have a different team-mate from Charles [who was partnered with Marcus Ericsson].

"Everything will look different. I hope the car can be faster at race one, and start to push from Melbourne."

Sauber started the 2018 season at the back of the field with Williams, which meant Leclerc's F1 career began with a run of early eliminations from qualifying.

Read Also:

However, its progress to a top-10 team by the end of the season meant Leclerc was gradually able to show his skills more regularly and earn his Ferrari move.

Giovinazzi insists it is not his "priority" to judge himself against what Leclerc did and has played down how much Leclerc can help him by succeeding at Ferrari and proving it's worth gambling on a young driver.

"Already, many young drivers show they are fast enough to be in a top team, like [Max] Verstappen, and next year will be Pierre [Gasly joining Verstappen at Red Bull], and Charles.

"It's good to see a young driver can do a fantastic job in a top team. My target is to improve. It will be my first year in F1. My target is to improve myself."